James of Portugal (17 September 1433 – 27 August 1459), also known as James of Coimbra, James of Lusitania, was a

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

infante ''Infante'' (, ; f. ''infanta''), also anglicised as Infant or translated as Prince, is the title and rank given in the Iberian kingdoms of Spain (including the predecessor kingdoms of Aragon, Castile, Navarre, and León) and Portugal to t ...

'' (prince) of the

House of Aviz The House of Aviz (Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Casa de Avis''), also known as the Joanine Dynasty (''Dinastia Joanina''), was a dynasty of Portuguese people, Portuguese origin which flourished during the Portuguese Renaissance, Renaissance ...

, and a

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

and

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

of the Roman Catholic Church. James was the 3rd son of

Infante Pedro, Duke of Coimbra Infante D. Pedro, Duke of Coimbra KG (; en, Peter), (9 December 1392 – 20 May 1449) was a Portuguese ''infante'' (prince) of the House of Aviz, son of King John I of Portugal and his wife Philippa of Lancaster, daughter of John of Gaunt. I ...

, and

Isabella of Urgell Isabella of Urgel (Aragonese: ''Isabel d'Urchel''; died 1071) was Queen of Aragon; the only daughter of Ermengol III, Count of Urgell by his first wife Adelaide of Besalú. Isabella is mentioned in her brother Ermengol IV's testament.Monfar y Sors ...

. At the age of just 14, he took part in the

battle of Alfarrobeira The Battle of Alfarrobeira () took place on 20 May 1449. It was a confrontation between the forces commanded by King Afonso V of Portugal and his uncle Afonso, Duke of Braganza, against the army of the rebellious Peter, Duke of Coimbra Inf ...

(1449) where his father's army was defeated by the Portuguese royal army. James was taken captive after the battle, but he escaped and, together with his brother John and his sister Beatrice, took refuge in

Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...

, under the protection of his aunt,

Isabella of Portugal Isabella of Portugal (24 October 1503 – 1 May 1539) was the empress consort and queen consort of her cousin Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Spain, Archduke of Austria, and Duke of Burgundy. She was Queen of Spain and Germany, and La ...

(the consort of Duke Philip III the Good). James of Portugal studied in

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

and, on 23 March 1453, was appointed

Bishop of Arras The Roman Catholic Diocese of Arras (–Boulogne–Saint-Omer) (Latin: ''Dioecesis Atrebatensis (–Bononiena–Audomarensis)''; French: ''Diocèse d'Arras (–Boulogne–Saint-Omer)'') is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church ...

. On his aunt’s advice, he traveled to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, where

Pope Nicholas V Pope Nicholas V ( la, Nicholaus V; it, Niccolò V; 13 November 1397 – 24 March 1455), born Tommaso Parentucelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 March 1447 until his death in March 1455. Pope Eugene IV, Po ...

, hearing of the disgraces inflicted upon his family after Alfarrobeira, resolved to appoint the young James as the new

Archbishop of Lisbon The Patriarchate of Lisbon ( la, Patriarchatus Olisiponensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or patriarchal archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. Its archiepiscopal see is the Patriarchal Cathedral of ...

, which had been recently vacated by the death of D. Luís Coutinho. However, not being old enough to be consecrated to the dignity, James was only appointed administrator in perpetuity of the Archdiocese on 30 April 1453. Given the political situation in Portugal, James was unable to return to Lisbon to take possession of it, and so remained in Italy and governed his archdiocese from afar, via the vicar-general Luís Anes. Nicholas V having died in early 1455, the new

Pope Calixtus III Pope Callixtus III ( it, Callisto III, va, Calixt III, es, Calixto III; 31 December 1378 – 6 August 1458), born Alfonso de Borgia ( va, Alfons de Borja), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 April 1455 to his ...

elevated James to a

cardinal-deacon A cardinal ( la, Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae cardinalis, literally 'cardinal of the Holy Roman Church') is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the ruling pope and typically hold the title for life. Col ...

of the Church (despite not having the requisite 30 years of age for the office), assigning him the titular diaconate of

Santa Maria in Portico Santa Maria in Campitelli or Santa Maria in Portico (''Santa Maria in Portico di Campitelli'') is a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary on the narrow Piazza di Campitelli in Rione Sant'Angelo, Rome, Italy. The church is served by the Clerics Re ...

Octaviae, soon substituted for the diaconate of

Sant'Eustachio Sant'Eustachio is a Roman Catholic titular church and minor basilica in Rome, named for the martyr Saint Eustace. It is located on Via di Sant'Eustachio in the rione Sant'Eustachio, a block west of the Pantheon and via della Rotonda, and a bl ...

. Callixtus III also gave James the

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

ric of

Paphos Paphos ( el, Πάφος ; tr, Baf) is a coastal city in southwest Cyprus and the capital of Paphos District. In classical antiquity, two locations were called Paphos: Old Paphos, today known as Kouklia, and New Paphos. The current city of Pap ...

, in

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

, where his brother,

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

, had married Charlotte of Lusignan, Princess of Cyprus. Following the death of Callixtus III, James of Portugal participated in the

conclave A papal conclave is a gathering of the College of Cardinals convened to elect a bishop of Rome, also known as the pope. Catholics consider the pope to be the apostolic successor of Saint Peter and the earthly head of the Catholic Church. Co ...

that elected

Pius II Pope Pius II ( la, Pius PP. II, it, Pio II), born Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini ( la, Aeneas Silvius Bartholomeus, links=no; 18 October 1405 – 14 August 1464), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 August ...

as the new pope. He was appointed a Knight of the

Order of the Golden Fleece The Distinguished Order of the Golden Fleece ( es, Insigne Orden del Toisón de Oro, german: Orden vom Goldenen Vlies) is a Catholic order of chivalry founded in Bruges by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in 1430, to celebrate his marriage ...

, number 58, at the 9th Chapter of the order, held in 1456 at

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

. While travelling from Rome to

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard language, Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture ...

, James of Portugal fell ill and died in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

on 27 August 1459, at the age of twenty-five. He was buried in the

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...

San Miniato al Monte San Miniato al Monte (St. Minias on the Mountain) is a basilica in Florence, central Italy, standing atop one of the highest points in the city. It has been described as one of the finest Romanesque structures in Tuscany and one of the most scenic ...

in Florence, the only tomb in that church. Some of the best artists in

Renaissance Florence Florence ( it, Firenze) weathered the decline of the Western Roman Empire to emerge as a financial hub of Europe, home to several banks including that of the politically powerful Medici family. The city's wealth supported the development of a ...

were commissioned to design and decorate the chapel of the "Cardinale del Portogallo" in San Miniato. Portuguese art historian António Bélard da Fonseca, in his multi-volume ''O Mistério dos Painéis'' (1957-1967), controversially claimed that it is James of Portugal, and not St. Vincent, who is depicted as the radiant saintly figure in the central panels of the famous

Saint Vincent Panels The ''Saint Vincent Panels'', or the ''Adoration of Saint Vincent'' panels, are a polyptych consisting of six panels that were perhaps painted in the 1450s. They are attributed to the Portuguese painter Nuno Gonçalves, who was active from 1450 to ...

Nuno Gonçalves Nuno Gonçalves (c. 1425 – c. 1491, ''fl.'' 1450–71) was a Portuguese artist whose work initiated the Portuguese Renaissance in painting. He was court painter for Afonso V of Portugal from 1450 to 1471, and in 1471 he was appointed the offici ...

Ancestry

References

*"Nobreza de Portugal e Brasil", Vol. I, page 271. Published by Zairol Lda., Lisbon, 1989

External links

Genealogical information on Jaime of Portugal

''

Catholic-Hierarchy.org ''Catholic-Hierarchy.org'' is an online database of bishops and dioceses of the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Catholic Churches. The website is not officially sanctioned by the Church. It is run as a private project by David M. Cheney in ...

''. David M. Cheney. Retrieved February 29, 2016 {{DEFAULTSORT:James of Portugal 1433 births 1459 deaths 15th-century Portuguese cardinals House of Aviz Knights of the Golden Fleece Portuguese infantes Archbishops of Lisbon Bishops of Arras